What you need to know about the Natural History Museum's new gallery and mixed reality experience:
- Location: Natural History Museum (SW7 5BD).
- The Fixing Our Broken Planet gallery is free to visit, book your timeslot in advance.
- The mixed-reality experience needs to be booked in advance, charges apply.
What is Fixing Our Broken Planet about?
The Natural History Museum's new permanent gallery, Fixing Our Broken Planet, focuses on the impact that humans have on the climate of the planet and shares some of the ideas and innovations that could fix those issues.
Visitors can explore different displays of objects and specimens, each with a label and audio so you can listen to the scientist suggest solutions to tackle the climate crisis in their field of expertise. Each scientist also offers a personal quote which allows visitors to engage with each display on a more personal level.
The exhibits show that climate change is not just an issue for some but for all of us, and encourages us to spark conversations and action. Every person has a voice and can make a difference and help or lead change.
What topics does Fixing Our Broken Planet cover?
The exhibition covers four “zones”: energy, food, materials and health. Each section is divided into subtopics that investigate the different contributors to climate change, as well as potential solutions to combat them.
What sustainability solutions are explored in Fixing Our Broken Planet?
The exhibit explores a multitude of nature-based and manmade solutions, revolving around everything from coral reefs to mining. The displays explore what nature already offers that can then be applied to heal the planet and create more sustainable outcomes, as well as what needs to change in order to battle the climate crisis.
Which exhibits are featured in Fixing Our Broken Planet?
There are so many different displays discussing food choices, clothing, mining, plastics and more. My favourites related to animals and other organisms, but I highly recommend a visit so you can see for yourself everything the gallery has to offer.
Upon entering the exhibit I saw a gigantic skeleton that looked like a fish. Lottie explained: “It’s a four-metre-long marlin. They used to be this size in the past but specimens nowadays are usually much smaller.” She went on to tell me that marlin and other large predator populations have decreased by 90% since the 1800s due to overfishing.
Another area that caught my eye was a display with some orange and green growth. I was sure that I had seen it before on trees and stones. Lottie told me they were lichens – “a hybrid between fungi, algae and cyanobacteria”. I was amazed when she told me the lichens have different colours depending on the air quality that surrounds them. She said since she learnt this, she now spots them everywhere, and that this display is one of her favourites.
After that, we looked at some horseshoe crabs. When I heard that their blood has antibacterial properties I thought, “who decides one day to pull a horseshoe crab out of the ocean and investigate what their blood can do for us?” Did a fisherman get injured at sea one day and a horseshoe crab in the fishing net bled over his wound? Or do scientists just collect specimens randomly and analyse their blood? Jokes aside, many peculiar stories really do lie behind advances in medicine.
What is one of the hidden gems of this exhibit?
Lottie showed me a display of a strange-looking object, which turned out to be a whale’s earwax. She said: “It tells the history of the ocean. You can analyse the earwax like the rings on trees to see which chemical compounds are found in the ocean, and compare the findings to look at how the composition of the chemicals in the water changed over time.” It was fascinating hearing this.
We also spoke about mosquitos and how important they are… but all I could think about was that I really hate them, despite the fact (or maybe because of it!) that they really like me.
What is the purpose of the exhibit?
Lottie said that a major purpose of the exhibition is to "change how people see climate change and that it is not all depressing, but that there is a lot of hope as well.” She hopes the exhibition might spark new conversations and that visitors will talk about their experience with friends and family or at work, leading to positive change.
What other experiences does the museum offer related to climate change?
After leaving the exhibition we went to the Visions of Nature: A mixed reality experience. The visuals explored what life could look like in 100 years if we take action
Unlike with VR experiences, which can potentially cause issues like motion sickness or someone walking into a wall, in this experience you walk along a designated path. You can still see exactly where you are within the museum, but at the same time you take a visual journey around the globe.
Putting on our headsets, we moved through the different parts of the experience to see what the recovery of certain habitats and animal populations could look like if we all act now to combat climate change.
What are my takeaways from my museum visit?
At the end of the mixed reality experience, I felt very positive. The whole experience at the museum, especially the Fixing Our Broken Planet gallery, left me quite hopeful.
It was clear from the experience that it will take all of us to contribute and solve the climate crisis. I am convinced that we cannot just leave it to governments to solve this issue for us, but that they still play a vital role in saving the environment through new and amended laws and guidance. We must also apply changes in our daily lives, like our shopping and eating habits and what sort of energy we use and where it comes from.
As Lottie had hoped, I left the experience feeling like I know that I can make an impact, no matter how big or small, and that it isn’t all doom and gloom.
Visit the Natural History Museum website for further events and activities related to climate change and find out how you can get involved.
What can I do after my visit at the Natural History Museum?
Don't miss out on other fascinating exhibits and galleries and join a Natural History Museum tour before leaving the museum. After an inspiring time filled with new and fascinating discoveries, why not take a stroll through Hyde Park and relax at Kensington Palace or visit more of London’s top attractions. If that’s not enough, visit Lift 109 at Battersea Power Station to see London from above – it’s especially beautiful at sunset.